In other regions, the connection between growing season average temperature and wine quality was weaker. Many wine regions of the New World (e.g., the U.S.) had no relationship or even a slight insignificant negative relationship between tem- perature and wine ratings while emerging wine regions, such as Australia, Chile, and South Africa experienced higher wine ratings seemingly unrelated to climate change. Given the comparatively long estimation period for the climate/rating analysis, it is assumed that a combination of technological advances, accumulating experience, and increasing reviewer recognition influenced increased ratings in these regions. It can also be speculated that other ratings-dependent issues may have confounded the results for many of the less significant regions. For example, non- vintage designations for Port and Champagne, typically due to poor quality, result in discontinuous time series for those regions and potentially less significance in the analysis. In addition, broad vintage rating categories (i.e., Pacific Northwest, California, Chile, South Africa, etc.) reflecting numerous varieties and/or wine styles, may have masked the variability contained in the more defined wine cate- gories. Finally, for some regions, growing season average temperatures may not be the ideal metric of climatic influences on wine quality.